Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mumewin Letters 7 (part 2)

On the whole, during the sunlit hours
in the thiner part of the woods, we saw nothing more than flashing
shadows at the corner of our eyes. In fact, I'm quite certain the
wolves fear the light, as if under some blessedly misguided
superstition. At the edge, it was safe. At the edge, it was
pleasant. And I worried, still, fore I couldn't help but notice that
no wild life anywhere we could see ever touched the ground.

Before entering the deeper and thicker
enclosures, Davite stopped and pulled out a vile of some fowl and
musky flavored perfume and applied it strategically around his person
before handing me the liquid and biding I do the same. "All
wolves have good noses." he said. Coming from the north-lands
where the noble snow wolf and his son the White Hounds, I took Davite
at his word and repeated his ritual. Then, as if entering the gates
of darkness, we snuck under the shadowyer canopy.

The change was not subtle between the
thick and thin woods. There was no chirping, no signs of happy or
busy creatures, and the trees became so thick that the roots all but
impeded our progress. Before long, Davite and myself were slowly
ascending and climbing through heavy branches 10 feet off the ground,
careful not to make a noise. We were careful because there seemed to
be more shades moving, all of them with eyes.

Our first night in the woods was a
lesson in psychology. We climbed up the woods as high as the
claustrophobic trees would allow before finding branched sturdy
enough to ease worry of falling so as we could rest. To be honest,
neither of us slept well, as the devil dogs below would howl at the
nearly full moon beyond the canopy. During my own watch, I swear I
heard the woods just beyond my vision snap and crick below, as if the
creatures were searching for a way up here. There were low growls
and barks in all directions below.

At dawn I seemed to glean the plan of
the wolves. At first, I thought it was paranoia brought on by the
lack of rest, but now I realize my instincts were correct. The
wolves knew where we were, and took shifts to keep us awake and in a
state of unrest.